


Break a Leg or Whatever

by nabawrites



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Author Is Sleep Deprived, First Kiss, Getting Together, Hayden is a good friend, Hayden is supportive, I haven't done theater in a while and I never did high school theater so please don't at me, It's an AU, Liam is bi, Liam is in a play, M/M, Makeup, OTL Pride Month Gift Exchange, Tara is alive, Tara is only mentioned, The Author Regrets Nothing, Theater AU, Theo is a bad boy but only by association, Theo is a good boy who is misunderstood as a bad boy, Theo is building sets for community service, Theo is gay, Theo learned how to do makeup to teach Tara because their mom died, Violet has one line she's not a big deal, it's an AU I can do what I want, like i said
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25010959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nabawrites/pseuds/nabawrites
Summary: Liam's in a play, he's hopeless, and Theo helps him out.High school AU, theater au, and a healthy helping of bi-disaster Liam.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 10
Kudos: 84





	Break a Leg or Whatever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xSophie2x](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSophie2x/gifts).



> This is for the Official Thiam Library's pride month event, and it is a gift for the lovely xSophie2x. They have the same @ on Tumblr, so definitely go check them out.
> 
> xSophie2x, I hope you enjoy!

Fucking Hayden. Why did she have to get him into this mess? Why did he have to agree?

He never wanted to be in a fucking play, he never wanted to be on a stage, and he sure as hell never wanted to wear breeches.

Liam wasn’t even a good actor! They just couldn’t find any dudes to sign up for this play, so Hayden begged him to take pity on them. She used the puppy dog eyes! How could he say no to that? Exactly, he couldn’t.

Now he was sitting backstage in his prince costume, staring hopelessly into a vanity mirror, bracing himself for the opening night of the play. All the girls had gone to do their stage makeup together in the bathroom because it had better lighting and more mirrors, so he was alone.

He looked at himself in the mirror, recognizing the hopelessness in his expression and sighing in depressed resignation. The director of the play had come by a minute ago and nonchalantly reminded him that he needed to put on some makeup so the stage lights didn’t drown him out, and then she’d disappeared into the tech booth before he had the opportunity to ask her how the heck he was supposed to do that. The girls wouldn’t be back in time for him to ask them for help, and Liam had no idea what he was going to do.

As Liam felt himself slowly start to panic, he heard a quiet laugh behind him. He whipped around to catch the source of the snickering and found Theo Raeken smirking at him, shoulders shaking slightly with his laughter.

Great. Liam rolled his eyes. The last thing he needed was for the school’s resident problem child to be laughing at him. The only reason Theo was here was that one of his friends vandalized the school and he wouldn’t name names. Community service had seemed like a good punishment, and since the school had been harmed by the vandalism, the school was where he’d have to serve. He’d been sentenced to custodial work and building sets for the theater department, and he had to be present for all the shows so that if anything broke he could fix it.

Considering all the hours he spent sitting backstage at the rehearsals and showing counted towards his hours of service, Liam thought he got it pretty easy. He also thought Theo had literally had no room to laugh at him when he spent most of his weekday afternoons in a janitor onesie.

Liam opened his mouth to say as much when Theo beat him to the punch. “You need some help there, little wolf?”

Every facial muscle twisting in disgust, Liam glared at him across the room. He never knew who started it, but that nickname had made it around most of the school since Liam was a freshman. Being the youngest member of the Beacon Hills Wolves football team - not to mention the shortest member - had earned him the title, and Liam had gotten in a few fights in 9th grade trying to get people to stop calling him that. It had only partially worked, apparently. “Don’t call me that, Janitor Boy.”

Theo rolled his eyes, smirk still in place. “Whatever you say, _Dumb_ -bar. You should be thanking me. This school has never been so clean.”

Liam huffed and turned back around to face the vanity, staring angrily into the mirror as he slumped into his chair. “Guess your waste of a life has accomplished something after all,” he muttered. He heard Theo’s footsteps as he walked over to the vanity, leaning on the corner with his hands casually stuffed in his pockets.

“I asked if you wanted help, little wolf.”

“And I told you not to call me that. What would I even need your help with, anyway?”

Theo huffed a small laugh, trying to cover it by clearing his throat. “Mrs. Ryker said you needed to put on stage makeup, right?” Liam looked up at him out of the corner of his eye, his interest piqued but his stubbornness unwilling to show it. “Something tells me you know absolutely nothing about how to do that. You’re basically hopeless without me.”

Liam’s jaw worked, but he knew Theo wasn’t wrong about his hopelessness. “And what exactly would you know about makeup,” he finally asked, turning to glare at him face to face.

“Plenty,” Theo said, somehow completely nonchalant in the face of admitting that Bad Boy Theo Raeken knew how to apply makeup.

Liam scoffed. “What, did you go through a  _ phase _ or something?”

Rolling his eyes, Theo stood up straight. “No, but my sister did, and somebody had to teach her how. Not that it’s any of your business.”

Liam grimaced, the memory of Theo missing school for three weeks when his mom died in 4th grade hitting him in the face. Before he could shove his foot farther down his throat, Theo crossed his arms and turned to walk away. “If you’re not interested in my help, that’s your problem, little wolf.”

In a split second of panic, Liam’s hand shot forward to grab Theo’s forearm, preventing him from leaving. “No, wait!” Theo paused and looked at him over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised as he waited for Liam to continue. After a moment of not very carefully considering his options, Liam stared at Theo’s feet and sighed in resignation. “Are you sure you can help?”

Theo smirked again. “Yeah, I can help.”

Stealing himself, Liam looked up at met Theo’s eyes, his glare barely hiding his embarrassment, and Theo probably saw through it anyway. “Fine. Help, then.”

“Say please.”

Liam’s eyes went wide. No. No fucking way.

“Say please, and I’ll help save your ass.” 

Liam could tell Theo was enjoying this, and he couldn’t wait to break this sadist’s fucking nose. He shook his head emphatically. “In your dreams, Raeken.”

Theo shrugged. “Okay. Your funeral when Mrs. Ryker comes back to your bare, naked face.” He started to walk away again, but Liam tightened his grip on Theo’s arm on reflex. 

Working his jaw, Liam finally managed to grit out a quiet, “Please,” through his clenched teeth.

The smile on Theo’s face was a cross between amusement and subtle pleasure. “You’ve got a deal. I’ll go get my sister’s makeup stash. She’s at cheerleading practice, so she won’t need it.” Theo sauntered away, Liam finally letting go of his arm.

While Liam sat there waiting for Theo, he felt his mind start to wrap around what exactly he had just agreed to. Theo Raeken -  _ The Theo Raeken _ \- was going to be applying makeup to his face. They were going to be very physically close to each other. Theo was going to have to  _ touch his face _ .  _ A lot _ . This was quite possibly the gayest thing Liam will have ever done in his entire life, and he was doing it with quite possibly the hottest guy in the whole school. He wasn’t even out yet! Well, Hayden and Mason knew he was bi, but literally nobody else did and he was not prepared for the bi panic that accompanied the knowledge that his greatest gay moment in all of high-school was going to happen with  _ Theo Raeken _ while he was securely closeted. 

And then Theo got back from his sister’s locker with an absolutely ginormous makeup bag in tow and Liam entered an entirely different kind of panic. Theo set the bag on the vanity and then grabbed Liam’s chair - while he was sitting in it - and turned it to face away from the vanity. He pulled up another chair, sat down in front of Liam, and then began to do his makeup.

They were largely silent apart from Theo occasionally telling Liam to adjust his head or lean forward. Liam felt a pang of panic every time Theo told him to close his eyes because he became hyperaware of the fact that he was constantly staring at Theo, at his eyes, his lips, his jaw, his everything. Theo was beautiful when he wasn’t smirking or insulting people. He was gorgeous when his entire being was so focused on something so small and detailed, when he absentmindedly bit his lip in concentration, when he was too invested in something to be cocky or proud or defensive. It was breathtaking having a Theo who wasn’t concerned with appearances so close to him, sharing his air and touching his face and swiping gentle fingers over the dips and grooves of his skin. At one point, Theo quickly sucked his thumb into his mouth and then used it to gently wipe away smeared powder, nonchalant and completely oblivious to the fact that Liam was pretty sure he was going to faint if he did that again.

Liam had always known Theo was attractive. He had seen him sweat in gym class, lean casually against the brick walls of the school as he listened to music, laugh reluctantly as Tracey or Josh said something funny, and reading in study hall with the end of a pencil rolling thoughtlessly between his teeth. He’d seen Theo get in trouble  with for his friends, never the culprit but never willing to snitch on who had really done the wrong. He’d seen Theo get in fights with lacrosse players to defend his sister’s honor. He’d seen him get straight As in middle school only to barely scrape his way through high school while working two jobs to help with his family’s money problems.

Everybody knew that Theo’s life was hard. Everybody knew that Theo’s snarky, arrogant behavior was a defense mechanism. Everybody knew that he was loyal to his trouble-making friends because they’d always been loyal to him (though apparently not so loyal that they weren’t willing to let him take the fall for half of their shenanigans). Nobody fully blamed Theo for who he was or what he did, but he also refused help, mocked compassion, and refused to make decisions that would be better for him in the long run.

Liam knew so much about Theo, but he’d never known he could be this gentle, never known that he would offer to help someone who’d admittedly always been a bit of a douchecanoe to him and without asking for anything more than a ‘please’ in return.

It made part of Liam angry. But it made another part of him melt.

His makeup was almost finished when the girls finally came back from the bathroom. When they saw Theo doing Liam’s makeup, they all immediately broke into giggles, except for Hayden who wore a wary smile. The girl who played the queen, Violet, snorted in a very undignified manner. “OMG,” she fake-whispered, a smirk on her face. “That’s so gay.”

Liam froze, his whole body tensing, and Theo clearly noticed. His eyes narrowed slightly, like he was reading Liam’s mind through his eyes, and then he cocked his head to the side and turned to look at the girls. An eyebrow was raised, and his carefully crafted expression was one of casual indifference. “Is that a problem?”

Violet giggled again and opened her mouth to reply, but Hayden cut her off. “Absolutely not. Nice job on the contouring, Theo. You might have to give  _ me _ lessons.” Liam could tell that she was intentionally inflecting enthusiasm in her voice, and he greatly appreciated the effort.

Theo smirked and turned back to the last touches of Liam’s makeup. “Sure thing, Romero. Just say the word.” At the dismissive tone in his voice, the girls dispersed, grouping up to go over lines and check over costumes. Hayden subtly flashed Liam a big smile and two thumbs up, which Liam could just barely see out of the corner of his eye. Theo saw him looking and glanced over his shoulder, and Hayden quickly put her arms down and spun around in a poor attempt at looking innocent. Liam rolled his eyes. And Mason always said  _ he _ was the dork in their friend group.

After only a couple minutes of Liam trying to avoid eye contact because he’s an awkward disaster bi who has only just now realized the implications of Theo replying ‘is that a problem’ to the insinuation that what they are doing right now is gay, Theo finally stood up and started to put away all the supplies. “Okay, that should do it,” he said, zipping up the makeup bag. He smirked at Liam over his shoulder. “I don’t think I can make you any prettier than that.”

Liam felt heat rush to his cheeks and he never thought he’d say this, but thank God he was wearing makeup so Theo couldn’t tell he was blushing. After stumbling over his own thoughts for about two seconds too long, he finally plucked up the courage to go, “Oh, so you think I’m pretty?”

Liam would have settled for flirty or antagonistic. Instead, he said that line with the most awkward, fumbling, ‘I-have-no-idea-what-I’m-doing’ tone of his life. He winced as the sentence played over again in his ears, every flaw of inflection scraping at his eardrums as he decided he’d like to crawl into a hole and never resurface.

There was no way Theo didn’t realize just how awkward that sentence was but apparently he decided to take pity on him because he didn’t mercilessly laugh him into oblivion. His smirk temporarily shifted into something closer to a genuine smile before he appeared to reign it back in. “Like I said, little wolf.” He shrugged lazily, slinging the makeup bag over his shoulder. “I did the best I could with what I had to work with.”

“Oh ha ha,” Liam retorted, far more comfortable with banter and harmless insults that with whatever this quiet, gentle kindness had been for the last half hour. “Very funny.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” Theo seemed to hesitate for a moment. “Look, I have sets to double-check and a makeup bag to return to my sister’s locker, so… break a leg, or whatever.”

Liam swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, uh, thanks. For the makeup. You kinda saved my ass…” The two of them stood there for another moment in awkward silence. Mrs. Ryker calling the cast for mic-check finally broke the moment and they hurried off in different directions.

***

To Liam’s infinite surprise, the play had actually gone really well. Nobody messed up their lines or their blocking, the light and sound effects went off right on cue, and there weren’t any costume snafus, even for that one girl, Rosie, who was playing, like, five different characters and had to switch costumes between every scene. Everybody was absolutely ecstatic, so after a quick debrief from Mrs. Ryker the cast changed into their regular clothes with plans to go to a diner to celebrate with milkshakes. The girls split off the change and take off their makeup in the bathroom and Liam went to the boys’ bathroom to do the same. He didn’t have any fancy makeup remover, so he just scrubbed at it the best he could with a wet paper towel. He’d have to do better than that next time now that he knew he’d actually have to wear makeup for this stupid play, as if the breeches weren’t enough.

Somehow he finished getting ready before the girls did, even without makeup remover, so he headed backstage to wait for them to finish, texting his parents to let them know he’d be home later than expected. When he looked up from his phone, he saw Theo walking around backstage, checking each of the props and sets to make sure none of them needed to be repaired before the next showing tomorrow night. He clearly didn’t think anybody would be back there once everybody had split off to leave, and Liam took in the subtle differences in Theo’s countenance when he thought nobody else was around to see him. He gave off totally different vibes, calmer and more confident, less defensive and on edge.

Liam kept looking until Theo noticed he was there. He smiled and sauntered over, and Liam mentally sighed in disappointment as he felt Theo’s vibes shift back into performance mode. “Well, well, well, little wolf. You did better than I expected.”

Liam thought about bantering back, but, honestly, he was just too tired. “Heck, I did better than _ I _ expected.”

Theo huffed a small laugh. After a split-second of looking over his face, Theo frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “Dude, what did you use to take off that makeup? Your face looks like you scrubbed in over with sandpaper.”

“Um, wet paper towels?” When Theo shook his head in obvious disappointment, Liam felt defensive. Glaring at Theo, he crossed his arms over his chest and jutted out in chin in defiance. “It’s not like I know anything about this stuff! You didn’t exactly tell me what to do after you smeared that stuff all over my face.”

“Well, yeah, I expected you to have the common sense to know that rubbing paper towels all over your face would be bad for your skin.” 

Liam opened his mouth to argue back, but before he could Hayden threw open the backstage door and called for him to “hurry up, loser, we’re getting milkshakes.” 

Liam called back to say he’d be there in a minute before turning back to Theo. He looked a little… uncomfortable, actually. Theo kept glancing back at the door that Hayden had just popped out of. Liam wondered… “Hey, do you want to come get milkshakes with us?” Theo’s eyes went a little wide for a moment, like he lost control of his constantly-smirking facial muscles. “We’re celebrating a successful first showing, and you’re set-building  _ and _ makeup skills played a big part of that.”

Hesitating for a moment, Theo shook his head. “Not really my scene, Dunbar.”

Liam tried to hide his disappointment. It had been a longshot anyway. Theo didn’t really associate with anyone outside of his friend group. He nodded and turned to walk away when Theo grabbed his shoulder. Liam turned back to look at him, not sure what to expect. Had Theo changed his mind about milkshakes?

“But,” Theo started, looking like he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue, “I wouldn’t mind making sure tomorrow’s showing goes just as well.” Liam was confused, visibly so, and Theo huffed in what seemed like irritation before elaborating. “In the makeup department, I mean.”

Trying to prevent his jaw from dropping, Liam cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, that’d be- That’d be great, actually, because I’m still really hopeless at this stuff.”

Theo snorted. “Clearly.”

Figurative crickets could be heard chirping as they both continued to stand there in awkward silence. Theo apparently couldn’t handle it anymore because he spoke again, tucking his hands into his pockets with faux nonchalance. “Well. I guess it’s a date.”

Liam couldn’t help a small grin, but the inside of his head was doing cartwheels. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Hayden flung the door open again. “Liam,  _ come on _ !”

“Yeah, coming!” he yelled and turned to run after her.

Liam might need  _ two _ milkshakes tonight.

***

It was the last night of the play. The previous 5 performances had all gone fairly well. The only slip-up was when Rosie accidentally changed into the wrong costume in between scenes during their third performance, and, all things considered, they’d done remarkably.

Theo was finishing up Liam’s makeup for the last time, and Liam could hardly sit still. While the first performance had been nerve-racking, this one was the biggest deal. His dad was usually busy working, but both of his parents had been able to make it to this one. The lacrosse team, too, had decided to show up en mass to cheer on their captain (or make fun of his failure, whichever the situation lent itself to). The audience was the biggest it had ever been, and Liam was practically vibrating from being so on edge. Theo was understandably frustrated by this, considering he’d spent the last half hour all but yelling at Liam to get himself together so he didn’t mess up his makeup.

Once the finishing touches were applied, Liam lept out of the chair to do an emergency line run-through with Hayden one last time before he had to go on, an absentminded thank you tossed over his shoulder to Theo as he packed up his sister’s makeup supplies.

Not too long later the play had begun and it was almost time for Liam’s cue. He could see his parents and the lacrosse team in the audience when he peeked around the curtain, and he was  _ freaking out _ . His entire body was tense as he prepared to go on stage, and Theo could definitely notice when he came over to check Liam’s mic was properly on and in place. Theo smirked and shook his head slightly as he checked to make sure the cords were properly plugged in. “You’ve done this five times, little wolf, calm down.”

“I  _ can’t _ ,” Liam whined. “This is the one that  _ matters _ .”

After confirming that everything was in place, Theo looked up at Liam’s face, smirk still in place. After surveying his nervous expression for a moment, Theo huffed, amused. “I thought you didn’t want to do this ‘stupid play?’”

Liam rolled his eyes. “I don’t want to do it  _ badly _ either, Raeken.”

Theo hummed, then, after a short beat of hesitation, pressed a quick kiss to Liam’s lips.

Liam was, to put it simply and in severely understated terms, in shock. “Wha- Wha-” He shook his head, eyes practically bulging out of his school. “What was  _ that _ ?”

Theo laughed at him, clearly very entertained by Liam’s heart attack. “Don’t die, little wolf, it was just for luck.”

The audacity. Liam couldn’t decide if he was angry or annoyed or elated or still nervous about the play or all of those things at once. Naturally, because he still had no idea what was going on, he also had no control over his own mouth because he couldn’t quite help himself from blurting out, “ _ Just _ for luck?”

Theo grinned, and Liam couldn’t tell how much of it was a smirk and how much of it was a real, genuine smile. “Well,  _ mostly _ for luck.” He winked. “I also just wanted to.”

Liam felt himself beam, the tension in his body slowly melting out of him at Theo’s admission. Just seconds before his cue, he lurched forward and kissed Theo hard, his hands coming up to cup Theo’s cheeks as he milked the few seconds he had left for all they’re worth. He pulled away, pleased to see that Theo’s usual swagger had been briefly interrupted by surprise or something equally disruptive. Smiling, Liam wiped a little bit of that lip stuff Theo had applied to his lips off of Theo’s face. “Is my makeup okay?”

Theo, still slightly out of it, nodded dumbly. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, it’s… It’s fine.”

Liam grinned brighter and turned away from Theo, heading out onto the stage just in time for his cue, all the tension and nerves gone from his body and replaced by a zing in his spine, a bounce in his step, and a tingle on his lips from the sensation of Theo’s against them.

***

Theo manages to get himself together quickly enough to watch Liam walk onto the stage like a man brought back to life. He couldn’t help but smile a little at the sight, and at the remnant of the cherry-flavored lipgloss he’d had the pleasure of applying to Liam’s lips. He kind of hoped this whole kissing thing meant Liam would let him put makeup on him again after the play was over, because that boy was always pretty but Theo took great pleasure in prettying him up even more.

Moments later, it was Hayden’s turn to take to the stage, but as Theo checked her mic she grabbed his arm gently but firmly, a strict but hopeful smile toying at the corners of her lips. “Just so you know,” she stage-whispered, “if you hurt him, I will crush you.”

Theo was tempted to roll his eyes, but then he briefly remembered that Hayden and Liam had dated the year before. The fallout was bad enough that most of their grade had been on edge in any class they shared with the two students. They’d only recently made up as friends, and Theo imagined that had something to do with Liam agreeing to do this play. He also imagined that meant Hayden knew a thing or to about hurting Liam and was speaking from experience rather than judgment. So instead of rolling his eyes, Theo nodded. “I wouldn’t dare,” he said, truthfully.

Hayden nodded back, that hopeful smile growing into a full-on grin. “Good. In that case, sweep him off his feet, Raeken. He deserves it.” Then she stepped into the stage lights.

***

The last performance was the best of them all. Theater moms who’d come to every show said that the boy who played the prince looked more alive than ever, a swagger in his step that had been previously missing. None of them were sure what had caused it, but it didn’t particularly matter as long as it made their daughters’ performances look better, as well.

After Mrs. Ryker’s debrief and Liam carefully removing his makeup with the wipes Theo had given him, Liam went to find Theo backstage. Riding on the highs of his best performance ever, Liam asked Theo on a date. Theo answered with a quick kiss and a, “Well, duh, little wolf.”

As he climbed into Theo’s truck to celebrate the evening with pancakes at a local diner, Liam realized he wasn’t really mad at Hayden for forcing him to try out for the school play anymore. 

He still could have done without the breeches though.

**Author's Note:**

> So what did you think? Should I avoid high school and theater au's or did I do okay lol
> 
> This took so much brainpower that it probably wasn't edited very well, so if you spot any grammar or spelling I can clean up, please feel free to let me know.
> 
> As always, kudos make my world go round and comments make me write faster, so leave as many as you like (or at least as many as the archive will let you).


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